Syracuse, N.Y. - A Liverpool man has been accused of assaulting a Syracuse police officer after a traffic stop on Syracuse's East Side turned into a chase early Monday morning, according to Sgt. Gary Bulinski.

William Strong, 35, of 615 Sunflower Dr. in Liverpool, also faces charges of criminal possession of a weapon. A shotgun was thrown from the van he was driving and a second suspect left the vehicle during the chase, Bulinski said.

Strong fought with police when officers approached him, Bulinski said. Bulinski said he did not have details about how Strong assaulted the officers.

Bulinski gave the following account of what happened:

Officers William Kittell tried pulling over a 2000 Chevy Venture van for a broken headlight on the 300 block of Ellis Street at about 1:55 a.m. Monday when the vehicle sped off. He followed it to the 1000 block of Westmoreland Avenue when a gun - later discovered to be a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun - was thrown from the van.

He continued chasing the van to the 1200 block of Westmoreland Avenue, where a male passenger got out of the van and ran away. The car continued to the intersection of Nottingham Road and Tecumseh Road. Strong stopped the car and got out.

By then a second officer had arrived on scene. He and Kittell were able to arrest Strong even though Strong fought back.

Strong now faces the felony charges of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree assault of a police officer. He also faces the misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, resisting arrest, aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree and several traffic tickets.

The man who escaped on foot has not been caught. Strong is being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center jail.